


Deeper than the sea

by Sagaya



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Drama, Eventual Smut, Happy Ending, Keith is human, M/M, My First Fanfic, Romance, hunk is human, lance is a merman, mermaid!au, pidge is a mermaid, shiro is an old friend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2018-12-07 21:09:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11631969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sagaya/pseuds/Sagaya
Summary: Lance, a young merman, saves Keith during a storm from drowning. But Lance doesn´t only think about Keith when he does so.





	1. Toy ship

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction ever so yeah. I´m in love with Mermaid!AU´s lately and with klance and that´s how this happened.  
> Also, it´s 1:40 am now and well I couldn´t sleep.  
> My main inspiration for this was the Song "Heart as a river" by Robot Koch as well as some instrumental playlist on Spotify. Oh, and my love for the merfolk, it inspires me a lot lately.  
> I don´t care if you´re an anti or anything like that, this is MY fanfiction and I can write what ever I want here so don´t you dare to complain about it if it isn´t about the story itself but only the pairings.  
> Please keep in mind, that English is not my first language so bear with me if some parts sound weird.  
> I don´t know how often I´ll update but I try to not let anyone wait too long.  
> Anyways I hope you´ll like this one and please let me know if you do so ☼

He couldn´t really remember when he had first seen this boy. His middle brown hair and the deep blue eyes, the beautiful laugh which sounded nearly hypnotical. Keith needed to clear his mind. He´d never admit, that he totally hit on that pretty boy. Not to himself nor the boy or anyone else.

The dark haired boy was sitting in a small Café nearby the towns´ haven drinking his black tea with some milk, watching the people around him especially the boy, called Lance. After a while he paid and left, walking down the street making his way to his little house at the towns´ edge. It once had looked really cosy but that was years ago and right now the cosiness stayed on the inside, invisible for people outside.

On his way home, which took him about twenty minutes since he lived apart from the other houses, Keith picked up some fruits, vegetable and also a book from the market. As soon as he arrived at his place, he began to prepare some snacks for his planned fishing trip this night. From his father, he had learned how to cook and a friend of the family had given him his fisher boat when he moved away, more inside the land. He still sends letters to him every now and then, to keep in contact.

After finishing all the preparations, including his boats´, he put on his red jacket which would keep him warm on the sea later on. He went outside and watched the sky worried. There would be a storm soon but he needed these fish until tomorrow. If he couldn´t sell them in the next two days he would not be able to pay for his mooring and since fishing was all he could earn money with he would probably die sooner or later without that mooring.  Thinking about all that, he took a deep breath and just half an hour later he started to sail towards the open Sea singing an old rhyme about the merfolk and sailors to himself.

_____

Under the oceans´ surface, a young merman was swimming by himself. His blue shimmering tail moved calmly in an up and down like motion as the said boy was taking his time not having a clear destination in mind. “They just won´t leave me alone. Siblings are so annoying, man”, he told the next fish he saw. After some time, his head appeared above the surface as he watched the ongoing storm ´ _pretty heavy one_ `, he thought. He catches a glimpse of a boat that got pushed around by the waves like some toy and oh sea lord, there was some poor fisher guy on that boat!

____

It was just an hour after his sailing started as the storm was all above him. He lost control of his ship completely, not being able to sail back to the safe haven. The waves got higher and higher and all Keith was able to do was to hold onto the ships reeling to not be swept into the wild ocean. He couldn´t only not swim but he also knew that in the sea the merfolk was just waiting for a poor sailor to drown in the oceans deep. The black haired males’ arms were getting heavier with each new wave that hit him and he was loosening his strength. Also, he could barely breathe `because he got hit by a wave every time he tried to catch his breath. Fighting for his live Keith clinched to the reeling not knowing that just a few meters away deep blue eyes were watching his boat with sorrow. The last thing Keith noticed was the dark sky, a lightning and then he felt the cold of the ocean's water all around him as he got swept into the sea. After that everything got a mess and then there was only darkness around him.

____

The merman was just a few seconds after the dark haired person fell into the water next to him. “Hey, you! Don´t try to fight me, I´ll help you alright??” he shouted, gripping the unconscious boy under the shoulder from behind, keeping his head above the water. The blue eyed began to drag him towards a bay where he´d be safe from the storm.

Lance had recognised the unlucky soul as a boy from the town where he sometimes was around. He would not let him drown.

It took nearly an hour before he was able to reach the small beach in the bay with Keith. He shoved him onto the shore glad to notice that said one was still breathing on his own. Flat but he was breathing. The sea began to calm down slowly as the night flew by and the morning arrived. As the sun rose over the horizon, she coloured the sky in deep red, purple and orange shades.

The merman was hiding behind some big stones in the water from where he kept watching the human boy. As soon as he would be conscious again, Lance finally would have someone to play with. If he couldn´t swim or climb really well, there was no way for the black haired to escape. ` _He will be nothing like my siblings and he will only belong to me, I won´t share with anyone_ ´, the merman thought. ` _This is my lucky day_ ´, he smiled to himself. The next hours would be full of waiting for him. Lance hated waiting it bored him and boredom was… well, it was boring. He began to swim around his hiding stones under water, inspecting the colourful fish that lived in the coral reef just beneath him. There were so many of them and Lance was even able to find some new pretty jewellery things for his collection. He loved storms, the strong waves would always bring new treasures to his little bay. He was a collector but he was only interested in pretty, shiny things especially necklaces and rings, but he also loved knives and swords. He hid his newest findings under a stone and came back up to the surface, as he continued to watch Keith, hoping that the human boy would wake up, soon.


	2. No way out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith finally wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter, yay! I had really much fun writing this one, I love to describe landscapes. I´m new to the whole story writing thing though so please gimme some lil' tips, if you have some, how I could improve :)  
> By the way, tomatoes really grow in exotic places, I´ve done some research about that. Anyways since this fanfiction doesn´t play at some real place, there can grow whatever, right?  
> I hope you´ll enjoy reading this ☼  
> Thank you so much for the kudos <3

Keith wasn´t awake, yet. It was 8 a.m.so Lance decided, that he could forgive him, just this one time. The time passed so unbearably slow and it was so boring. So why not swim around some more? And that the Merman did.

Just underneath the seas surface, there was a coral riff with all kinds of bright and strong colours. Lance loved anemones the most and at this place they stood side by side in pink, blue, orange and greenish colours. Nearly in each anemone the lived one or more anemone fish. Their bright orange colour with that white strips surrounded by black would never fail to fascinate him. He watched their fast flowing motions and laughed a little as some began to swim around his tail which sparkled, in the still orange daylight that passed through the surface, in a greenish blue. Nearby stood some great star corals in a nearly glowing read and he could also see lots of yellow staghorn corals.

The corals, which had tentacles, softly moved in the light stream that came into the bay. On the stones the corals stood on grew also some shells and seagrass could be spotted everywhere, too. It grew in all shades of green, some of it was wavy, others were straight and watching a little closer one could also spot some yellow and orange seagrass. Another kind of coral that lived here were the brain corals in their bright yellow colour matching the just as yellow Butterfly fish. A shoal of pink Dottybacks passed by accompanied by some Brackish fish. Between some stones in small caverns lived Eels as well as some crabs. Soon, a shoal of seahorses swam by and Lance followed the for a short while in the bay. Watching all the fascinating life in this place he totally forgot about time and Keith. The warm water took away all his thoughts, leaving him with nothing but happiness and fascination.

____

When Keith opened his eyes first he had to blink several times bevor he was able to clear his few a little. The first thing he noticed was that he was laying on his side in the sand. The second one was the smell of salt water. Slowly the events of yesterday came back to his mind. Hell, has it even been yesterday? He didn´t know, his head hurt badly and his throat was sore. All of his clothes were either wet or damp. He assumed that he couldn´t be that if his clothes were wet. ` _What the hell happened after I fell into the sea…?_ ´, he asked himself. Suddenly realisation hit him. He fell into the sea. He couldn´t swim. Where the hell was he?! And how had he gotten there?! Keith slowly sat up and looked around. Okay, he was sitting right by the water of the sea, it was a beach then. He turned his head from one side to the other in a slow motion. He still felt kinda numb. He realised, that he was in a bay that was surrounded by cliffs, at least to his left and right. He didn´t want to move more for now and so he couldn´t see what was behind him. But Keith was able to see that the cliffs were pretty high. His gaze turned to the water. Some big stones were sticking outa the surface, their tops being mostly flat so someone could probably sit on them. For a while Keith just sat there, watching the small waves that softly hit the beach. Slowly the numbness ebbed and he was able to stand up and walk around a bit. The dark haired boy could now scan the bay better. Behind him had been a little, well you couldn´t really say it was a forest but who cares? There were mainly palm trees but he could also spot one banana tree at the forest's edge. Words of his father came into Keith's mind and to not let the panic that was growing inside him win he spoke them out loud. “If you ever get lost somewhere in the wild, first search for freshwater or you´ll die soon. Always keep the direction of where you started so that you don´t get lost even more. If that place is safe, consider to use it as a base later on.” Talking to himself, he began to do exactly that. Walking slowly into the forest hoping to find fresh water, but always keeping the direction of where he came from even though the beach could be spotted from anywhere in between the few trees. Keith would probably even be able to count them in less than half an hour. He considered himself very lucky as he after just five minutes found a very small lake. Was it even a lake if it was smaller than you were tall? Anyways, Keith could´ve cried, so happy was he about his finding. He immediately kneed down and drank. It felt so good, he couldn´t remember that drinking water had ever felt so good.

Finally, the last dizziness in his head fed away and he could think clearly again. He now was able to hear some bird singing somewhere above his head and he was even able to catch a glimpse of colourful feathers.

He had found out, that the backside of the bay was surrounded by cliffs as well and as far as he could tell there was no way out of here. What should he do now? “Keep calm Keith, just keep calm, you´ll find a way back home”, he promised himself. He was still very exhausted so he decided to rest for today, just walking around a little more, searching for some food. And that he did.

After about an hour Keith returned to the beach, holding some bananas, mangos and even a few tomatoes. He sat down in the shadow of the trees into the warm sand and ate, beginning with the tomatoes and bananas. But as he wanted to peel the mango with his knife, he noticed that said one was missing. He freaked out a little, that knife was a present from his father, he had had it for his whole life and now it was gone! He began to search up the whole beach and even a little in the water. As he was ready to give up, he stood up straight again, watching over the bays’ water. As he did so, he stared directly into deep blue eyes only a few meters further in the water. Blue eyes, which were deeper than the Sea.


	3. Poor sailor souls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I finally have a new chapter for you!  
> I'm sorry that they're always kinda short but it's really hard for me to write all that in English. I'm still trying to reach that 1000 words least, in every chapter.  
> Let me know, what you think of my work, please :)  
> Hope Y'all enjoy this ☼

**_Poor Sailor souls_ **

 

Lance had had enough of watching corals and fish. He made his way back to the surface and as he took the first breath of air above the sea, he could see Keith standing in the water searching for something. He was busy enough to not noticing the merman who made his way to a place just a few meters in front of him. As the dark haired boy finally looked up, Lance’ and his eyes met and Lance could literally feel the shock of the other one. His blue eyes stared directly into the black greyish ones of the human and Lance couldn´t help but wonder if he had ever seen someone who’s eyes had that colour.

A few seconds passed by with neither of them saying a word so Lance just began to grin and spoke a simple “Hi there”, and watched amused as Keith stumbled back tripping over his feet and falling down into the water he stood in.

____

And there he sat, staring at the brown haired one in front of him, being unable to take his eyes away from the nearly sparkling fishtail that could be spotted under the surface. “Mer… mermaid”, he stuttered and suddenly he felt fear growing in side of him making him shake a little. Standing up fast while already trying to run back to the beach he ripped several times on his way before he was able to reach the golden, warm sand and after he reached it, he finally looked back to the creature. Said one had crossed his arms over his chest, giving him a slightly offended look. “Sorry to disappoint ya’ dude, but I’m clearly a man and not a maid. The only girly thing I can spot here is you, running… well, you fell more than you walked… but anyway I think you’re smart enough to get ma point, aren’t ya?”, and then he laughed. Doing so, Keith was able to see some really, _really_ sharp teeth and the mermai- man had plenty of them. “You… you cannot reach me! You can’t eat me and you can’t drown me!”, the boy shouted trying to convince more himself than the other one. Every sailor knew that the merfolk was just waiting for you to drop into the sea. They were well known for being deceitful, swimming right beneath the surface or sitting on some stones nearby cliffs, seducing the poor sailors with their beauty and their siren voices so that they’ll navigate their ship right into their own destruction. To save themselves the sailors might try to jump into the water but that’s just what the merfolk then is waiting for dragging every poor soul down to the bottom of the sea, drowning and then eating them. Everyone knew that and what everyone says must be true. Mustn’t it?

But the one in front of him just laughed more, “I knew it was bad with your human minds but I didn’t think it was that bad. You really believe everything some old man tell you. You believe it so much, that you’re not even able to swim because you’re afraid that we’ll get ya faster if you're able to swim, that’s just so stupid.” Keith didn’t really listen but he realised something. The merman looked kinda really similar to the pretty boy from his home town. Too similar. “Lance?”, slipped from his tongue. It was just a whisper and Keith was pretty sure he hadn’t heard it.

____

He stopped talking as he heard the other one saying his name. Humans didn’t know that the merfolk had very good ears and that they were highly sensitive, too. “So you do remember me. I already wondered if you’d forgotten about me but I know that I’m far too pretty to be forgotten,” he grinned. His amusement grew as he watched the other's eyes got even wider than before. “If you could see yourself right know” Lance teased. Having enough of swimming at one place all the time he used the strength of his tail to get out of the water, placing himself on the smooth top of one of the rocks in the water, showing nearly all of the blue scaled tail, just leaving the fin under the surface.

“But… how??” he heard Keith stutter. “You were human; how can you be… that??” Lance decided not to take this >that< personal and forgave him. He was probably still really confused or maybe he was just dumb? Whatever, he didn’t care for now. “That’s not very nice of you and that’s why I’m not telling you how this works now. But I think I will tell you if you behave and be all nice to me” he said, smiling sweetly. Actually, the whole thing was way simpler than anyone would probably think but Keith didn’t have to know that now, Lance would rather play with him a little more before telling him. “You’ve probably wondered already why you’re here and that I can tell you. You’re here because I saved you from drowning in yesterday’s storm. And since I saved your life you belong to me till you save mine. You’re mine now and only _mine._ For you, there’s no way out of this bay. You can’t climb well and you can’t swim at all so that makes 2 points for me and zero for you” he explained to Keith. He was really proud of himself for having made such a wonderful… how to call Keith… friend. Yeah, to Lance friend was a suitable word. Well, Keith was his forced friend but a friend is a friend, who cared anyway?

____

It took him nearly five minutes before he was able to reply to the merman. “I am not yours. I belong only to myself so bring me back home now!”. He could even hear himself that what he just said sounded so stupid. He knew that Lance wouldn’t bring him back and wouldn’t let him go. Thinking back, the merman had probably planned all of this carefully. There was fresh water, a lot of fruits and some vegetables and enough shadow to not collapse in the sun. Keith was just his unlucky victim and realising that he became mad and that madness grew fast.


	4. Sometime a hug is woth more than anything else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance finally gets to know Keith's name.  
> Keith is a confused human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the long wait. School really got me and I hadn't had any time.   
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter ^^

Something in Keith’s head finally snapped and he stared at the merman speaking surprisingly loud now. “How dare you to just say that I belong to you and that I owe you something!? It was your choice to save me, not mine, not at all! I’d rather drowned than being saved by you! I hate you and I want to go back home, now!”. He could clearly see some disbelieve in Lance’ eyes but he didn’t care at all. He wanted to be back home, in his warm bed with some tea. Or to fix some parts of his house or anything else but he did not want to be here. How was he ever able to think of Lance as pretty, gorgeous, beautiful, handsome, …. Well, he was beautiful with those deep blue eyes Keith could get lost in, his brown hair that looked so soft, now that it was nearly dry and Keith wondered how it would feel if he could run his fingers through it. There was Lance’ tan skin as well, looking so smooth, flawless and the human could only imagine how soft it probably was beneath his fingers, how Lance would lean into his touch as he let his fingers travel further down on his body and how he’d moan his – wait what?! Keith could’ve slapped himself for thinking such things. He. Did. Not. Want. To. Stay! He didn’t want to touch lance, nor kiss him nor anything- at least that’s what he told himself. But actually he wanted to do all that and that let his madness grow just more.

____

Why were humans always so loud? Did they do this on purpose? Were they maybe deaf or something? Lance’ ears rang a little as Keith shouted, having too sensitive ears. Merfolk always had sensitive ears that’s how they were able to communicate even through long distances. Lance learned on his trips on dry land that humans didn’t do that. They had to stand face to face with each other to talk in a normal way. If they were just a few meters more apart they’d start to shout. Anyways, Lance assumed that the dark-haired human was angry. But why? Humans were so complicated. There was nothing to complain about in this bay. There were enough food and water, it was pleasantly warm and of course, there was him, Lance. A very good looking, handsome, awesome and hot companion! So why was he still complaining? He decided to just ignore his anger and started a completely new topic. “So it seems that you know my name. But I do not know yours. You will be kind an’ tell it to me, won't ya’?” he said in his sweetest voice. He took the time Keith needed to realise what was going on now to look at him. He was really gorgeous with his dark hair and those black eyes with a hint of purple in them. Plus, he had a really nice body. Lance would give a lot to touch him maybe even kiss him.

___

Keith blinked several times before he was able to answer. “…Keith. My name’s Keith.” Wait what?! Did he really just told that monster his name?? Yeah, seems like he really did. He looked into Lance’ eyes and watched as said one began to smile. This wasn´t a smirk, which he had seen before. No, this was an actual smile and Keith couldn’t help but think how amazing it looked. The smile let the merman’s good-looking face pop even more. How can such a beast be so beautiful? Without wanting it to happen, his anger slowly sank and he calmed down. Somehow he wanted to be near to the elegant creature in front of him. Couldn’t he just get into the water and swim to the rock…? No, he couldn’t ‘cause he never learned how to swim. This was the first time Keith was regretting that fact in his life. But still, Lance would save him again, right? Better not risk it. He shook his head. ` _Why the hell am I thinking about going to him? I should hate him! But somehow I can’t_ ´ the dark-haired boy thought. He needed to get away from this place as far as at the moment possible.

___

Lance was very satisfied with the humans’ answer. Keith was a really pretty name. A pretty name for a pretty person. He began to smile honestly. The merman could tell, that Keith was starting to relax a little. Finally, his calming merfolk charms came through the obviously thick walls the human had built around his mind. It was really useful to be one of the merfolk in such situations. As such he had a really calming effect on nearly every human no matter which age or gender or whatever. Of course, there were exceptions but aren’t there always exceptions? Lance watched as Keith left the beach, walking into the small forest. He decided that he would just leave him alone now there, there wasn’t much he could do now anyway. So he let himself glide back into the water and disappeared underneath the surface of the sea. The merman swam out of the bay and into the open ocean instead. Time to finally go ‘home’ for a short time. As he swam he suddenly heard a very familiar voice nearby. It was Pidge, his awesome mermaid best friend. He greeted her happily with a hug and they continued the leftover way together.

___

This was all so confusing to Keith. All he wanted now was to be home. He missed home a lot even though he wasn’t gone for long. Yet. How long would he be here? _‘I wish I at least wasn’t as lonely as I am now. Hell I even wish for Lance to be here. I could need a hug now…_ ’ Keith was completely lost in his thoughts. He’d never admit any of what he was thinking. He didn’t understand what had been happening on the beach just a short time ago. Why hadn’t he been able to be angry any longer? So many questions but no answers anywhere.


	5. Lonely days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance hadn't shown up for some days and Keith want's to have him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got me together and wrote a new chapter.   
> Took me a loooot longer than planned, I don't even know why.  
> Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Days passed without Lance coming back to the bay. Keith wanted him to be back, he wanted to know that his only chance to ever get back home was still alive and did not die somewhere in the middle of the sea. In those lonely past days, he had built himself a little ‘home’ underneath the last palm trees before the beach began. His ‘home’ were only a few large palm tree leaves layered to something roof like and a few more leaves along with some grass were his ‘bed’. It wasn’t much but it was at least something and he had a clear few on the bay. Keith was still wondering why he wasn’t able to be mad at the merman or why that guy saved him instead of drowning and eating him. And why the hell was he so beautiful?? Gosh, Keith even started to dream of his deep blue eyes, the smooth tanned skin and the soft looking brown hair. He knew exactly, that he was falling in love with this mysterious creature and there was nothing he could do against it. He really had tried to not let this happen but it was helpless. His only chance to stay sane was to get home as fast as possible and forget about all this, including Lance. And as if said one had been called by this thought, the merman’s head appeared just a few meters away from the beach, smiling brightly.  
___________________  
Lance had been busy in that past days. He had decided to get Keith to like him and he learned during his time on dry land, that humans loved presents. That’s why Lance went into Keith's hometown and got him some “presents”. He was pretty proud of himself, tucking his “presents” in a waterproof box behind him through the water. Once there had been some papers in it which Lance hadn’t had any use for so he just left them in the water, taking only the box with him. He knew someday it would be of use and today was that day. Humming happily, he entered the bay. Lance waved Keith hello, who sat underneath something that hadn’t been there the last time. It was something like a roof, Lance assumed. “Yo, pretty human, I got you something!”, and without further explanation, he shoved the box as far as he could towards the beach. Lance even took it as far as to swim a little closer so that he could “sit” in the sand beneath the water’s surface, curling up is fishtail a bit. “Come on, take it, it doesn’t bite, I promise!” he said, as Keith eyed the box sceptically. “What if it doesn’t bite but scratch?”, the dark haired human said sarcastically. “It won’t do that either.”” That’s what you say, but I don’t think I can trust you.” “Oh come on, I’m just trying to be nice. Now be a good human and take my present.”” Keith looked at him for some second and Lance was getting a little nervous. What if he didn’t like his present? Impossible, he’d love it for sure! “Okay, I’ll open it” Yes! Finally! The merman watched as Keith stood up and tugged the box out of the water. “Why is it so heavy?”” Just open it up, you’ll see!” The present itself wasn’t heavy at all, that was just the boxes weight. Lance watched excitedly as Keith opened the Box. For a few moments, Keith said nothing. Probably speechless, was what Lance thought.   
____________________  
As Keith opened up the box, he didn’t know what to say. The was nothing in it, but a silver fork and an old looking doll for children. He counted one and one together as he realised, that Lance didn’t know a lot about the human’s world. What should he tell him? Should he just say the truth, that this was just nothing he ever wanted to have? Keith looked to the merman and decided against it. He couldn’t be so heartless. “Oh, uhm, thank you, Lance, I really like it.” And to make it even more convincing, he smiled at Lance. Said one started to laugh happily, seeming a little relieved. “I knew you would love it! Humans love presents, don’t they?” Keith had to laugh a little. This guy was so adorable, and his laugh was beautiful. Oh no, no, no, no, no. Stop it, Keith, now! You. Cannot. Have. Him. He only has to get you back and after that, you’ll have to forget him! That thought somehow made his heart arch a little. “Hey Keith, won’t you come closer? I won’t bite either, big promise!” Keith watched, as Lance patted the water next to him. “It’s not deep at all, I can sit here!”” Well, no, I won’t come close to _you._ “   
_____________________  
Lance wouldn’t lie to himself, that really had hurt him. Was he really that ugly to Keith that he didn’t even want to come near him? His face fell a little, but he kept smiling not letting the other know what was going on inside. “Oh, okay. Well maybe next time, “ and then he left without another word, hurrying out of the bay, though it was taking him a little more time than usual since he had to get back into the deeper water first before he could swim away. That didn’t go as he planned it. He thought he could get closer to the human, getting to know him a little better. It’s not like he would give up now but he needed a new plan, one that wouldn’t fail again.  
_____________________  
That night Keith didn’t sleep well. He even cuddled the doll Lance gave him to find some comfort. It was a windy night, which he luckily couldn’t feel because he was protected by the cliffs around the bay, but he could hear it. More than anything he wished to be home right now or that at least Lance would be with him. Keith never slept well during windy or stormy nights and being outside with nearly no protection wasn’t helping it at all. Little did Keith know, that Lance had returned to the bay as it went dark, watching over him from the water. If he had opened his eyes he could see the merman’s blue eyes sparkle in the moonlight, which was showing every now and then through the thick clouds. But Keith didn’t open his eyes and fell into an unsteady sleep instead.


	6. Those stupid hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> how do merman get legs?

As Keith woke up the next morning, he nearly stopped breathing. Just five inches away. there was Lance's face, next to his own! It took him a few Moments to realise that he had been holding his breath for real, so he started doing it again. Would be funny death to die because a drop dead gorgeous guy was right next to you when you wake up, wouldn’t it? Keith wasn’t sure if he this real or just his mind playing tricks on him, so he blinked a few… well, very often,… until he believed his eyes. He took a deep breath, trying to clear his head a little before he looked at the merman again. Wait. Merman. How the f*ck did he get here?? Lance seemed to be asleep, so Keith took the risk to wake him up and sat up, eyeing the boy closely. It was now that he realised, that Lance was actually having on clothes but more important: HE HAD LEGS. He wanted to freak out but then a memory popped up in his head. He saw Lance in the local bakery of the town, drinking some hot chocolate. Of course, how was he able to forget about that? He indeed had seen Lance with legs instead of a fishtail already! There just had been too much happening for Keith to remember everything. Didn’t he at first wonder, why Lance had a fishtail anyways? But how was the possible? Lance couldn’t have an identical twin who was a human, could he? Or maybe that was some kind of magic? Maybe his tail would come back when his legs got wet? The dark-haired human was trying for a solid half an hour to go through all theories in his mind, before giving up on it and just staring at Lance. Up close he noticed, that Lance was even prettier than he thought. He wanted to run his fingers through that short brown hair, which looked so soft. He wanted to touch that smooth looking skin, that seemed to have not a single imperfection. He wanted to hug the pretty boy, holding him close. Gosh, Keith even wanted to kiss those lips which had a soft coral undertone to them. But before he could do anything, Lance opened his eyes slowly.  
________________________________________________________________________________________ As Lance opened his eyes, he was looking right into the ones of the human. “good morning, my dear human friend,” Lance said as he sat up as well. “How the hell did you get here?” was the only answer he got. Lance pouted a little. “oh c’moon, not a little good morning to me, your saviour? What about a hug and a kiss? But okay, if you wanna know so badly how this works, I’m gonna tell you. You’ll be disappointed because it’s nothing special, though.” “One, you’re not my saviour, more like my kidnapper. Two, there’s NO WAY I’m going to hug and or kiss you, and three, how can that not be special?? I mean you got legs instead of a fishtail somehow? “ “Oh, what a shame, really no way?” the merman hid his feeling under a bright laugh. “Well, okay, I can live with that.” No. No, he couldn’t really live with that. The merman had already figured out that he was in love with Keith, that beautiful human with the dark hair and those pretty dark eyes with a purple touch. Hearts are funny things, aren’t they? They make you fall in love in the shortest period of time, driving you crazy and lovesick, and there’s nothing you could do about it. But if your loved one doesn’t feel the same, it takes weeks, months, sometimes even years to be able to give up on them, burying all your hopes underneath your broken heart. It takes a lot of time and care to fix a broken heart and if you finally made it, your heart decides to run right into the next right person for the rest of your life, sending you through hell once again. Only very few lucky ones really meet their soul mate on the first try, never having to go through all the pain a broken hearts comes with. Lance decided to never tell Keith about his feelings, that would probably be the best for both of them. “Are you going to explain me your leg fishtail magic thing now or not?” Keith's voice brought Lance back to reality. “Yeah, sure! It’s very simple. When my tail dries completely, it transforms into human legs n stuff. And the other way around, as soon as my legs get wet they change back to my fishtail. This is for several reasons. One is to prevent that merfolks are dying because we dry out. Another one is, what you may have noticed, that we do not have genitals, so it’s also for reproductive purposes.“ Lance face heated up, talking about that. Yes, that was the way merman, and mermaids were able to have sex. “But it’s not like I can have legs as long as I want. My limit is one day and that took me a lot of practice. If I don’t get back into the water by then, I’ll start to dry out, too”. Why was he telling this to Keith? He could take all that information against him! He just had proved once again, that he wasn’t the biggest fan of Lance. He knew, that it had been a huge mistake, to take Keith to this bay instead of his home. But he’d never admit that, of course.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________- Keith stared at Lance while said one was talking. He had such a beautiful voice and Keith was eyeing his lips the whole time. He wanted to kiss him so bad, but he knew he couldn’t. His goal had to be to get home as fast as possible and never thinking of all this ever again. His heart ached at this thought, he didn’t want to forget about this beautiful creature, with the deep blue eyes, the tanned, smooth skin and the gorgeous laugh. But he simply had to, that would be his only chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long, the school really has taken over my life.  
> Hope you enjoy anyways


	7. A place to call home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance knows, that Keith needs a place to call home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot about this, I am so so sorry ^^"   
> Buttttt I am back with a new chapter, finally!

Lance knew he had to bring Keith back home. This wasn’t a place for him to live any longer. Yes, it was kinda safe from storms and there were food and water, but it wasn’t a home. Humans need a safe place where they could just be themselves, have a family and a warm bed. Nothing of that was here for Keith. Of course, he didn’t want to bring him back, he’d miss him so much because his stupid heart had decided to fall in love with him but it had to be. Keith deserved to be happy and Lance wanted to see him happy. As Keith fell asleep that night, Lance took off all his clothes, and went back into the ocean, getting back his fishtail. (Once you knew how that legs to fishtail and back thing worked, it kinda made sense). His plan was to find some little boat (“borrow” it from some fishermen), take it to the bay and get Keith home in it. And maybe he’d get the boat back to its original owner. Sounds easy to do, right? Lance had a little bit of hope, that Keith wanted to stay with him but he doubted it. Why should Keith want to stay with him? He obviously didn’t even like him and knowing that, was hurting Lance more than he’d ever let someone know. He tried to push his thoughts away and swam faster, making his way towards the nearest coast, where humans had built a little town. Keith wasn’t as far away from home as he might have thought. The reason why no one ever passed by the bay was hidden in the cliffs in front of its entrance. No sailor had yet ever managed to sail past them and a lot of ships had found death in them. You’d never think of that when you’re actually in the bay. The world seemed to stand still there as if nothing bad even existed.  
After about half an hour of swimming, Lance reached the port. And he was not disappointed, there were a lot of boats and also some bigger ships. He searched for a few minutes and found a very simple boat, which looked really just like a nutshell. It was old looking and seemed as if it hadn’t been moved for a while. It was exactly what Lance needed. It didn’t take a lot of effort to open the knot of the rope, which the boat was barely tied to stay in place. The darkness of this night gave enough protection for Lance to pull the boat with him away from the port, without anyone notice. Usually, the port was full of life, even later at night, but today nearly no one had been around. Maybe there was an event in town, but Lance honestly couldn’t care less why there was no one, he just was very glad about it. The way back took him almost two hours. Man, he was so slow, not being able to swim free. He guessed, it would take him even longer when Keith was sitting in that boat. However, Keith would finally go back home and forget about him, yay. And maybe at some point, Lance would be able to do the same. But how could he forget about those dark, beautiful eyes, the black, silky hair, his pretty face and just everything about Keith? He had no idea, it seemed impossible. He cleared his mind as he carefully navigated the boat through the cliffs and into the bay. Behind him the sun began to rise slowly, setting the water on fire with her red and orange shine.  
______________________________________________________________  
That was the sight, Keith woke up to. He hadn’t been able to sleep very well. Nightmares were haunting his sleep, waking him up every other hour. As the sun was rising, he sat up. Trying to get some good sleep was pointless by now anyways. He looked towards the ocean and wasn’t sure if his eyes were betraying him. Did he saw Lance and a little boat? What was the merman planning? He had no idea. All he knew was that he had never missed a good cup of coffee more than now. His mind was dizzy and he couldn’t focus very well. That always happened to him when he wasn’t able to sleep very well. He stood up, stretching his numb limps hoping that his mind would clear up soon. Keith missed his warm and soft bed, he missed hot drinks like tea and coffee, he missed the warm meals and his shower. He missed home, a lot. He looked at Lance again, who was now pushing the boat as far towards the beach as he could. Maybe the merman had decided to bring him back home? “What are you doing with that boat?” he asked. The merman looked at him, quiet for a few seconds. Then he smiled. “You don’t belong here; I’m bringing you back home. You have a right to live a proper life as much as I do, and you can’t do that here.” Keith wasn’t sure, but Lance seemed to be sad. He didn’t dare to ask about that, instead he just was gladder then he could describe, that he’d be going home! “When?” he wanted to know. “As soon as you’re ready. Don’t worry, you won't have to see me ever again afterwards.” “But I want to see you again!” Shit, had he really said that out loud? Lance looked at him, very surprised. “You... what? But I thought you hate me? Don’t make stupid jokes, I’m not in the mood for that now. “ The merman crossed his arms, his face looking even sadder now. Keith wasn’t sure what to do or what to say. He didn’t want to see Lance sad. Oh, shut the f*ck up Keith, as soon as you are home you have to forget about him! Stop making everything harder for yourself, you can fall in love with someone else at home, someone who isn’t a merman and who does not trap you in a lonely bay. The truth was, Keith didn’t want someone else and he hated himself and his heart for that.


End file.
